The Stations or Way of the Cross is one of the most traditional and identifiable devotional practices in Catholicism. The devotional prayer can be traced back to early Christian pilgrims who would visit the various historical sites in Jerusalem associated with Jesus Christ's suffering and death. Known as the "Via Dolorosa", each station represented a significant place where Christ had walked on his way to crucifixion.
When the Franciscans became custodians of the historical sites in Jerusalem and the Holy Land in 1342, they began to popularise the devotion, and it was not long before the practice spread to other parts of western Europe. Through the centuries the number of stations varied, with some versions numbering up to 40 stations. From around the sixteenth century, there have been fourteen stations, many of which can be identified in parish churches today.
In 1975, the Congregation for Sacred Rites in Rome produced a revised list of the Stations of the Cross, with each station linking closely with the gospel accounts of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. This version begins with the Last Supper and concludes with Jesus' Resurrection. This revised version was used by St John Paul II, who reinforced their role in contemplating the life and death of Jesus Christ:
'What does it mean to have a part in the Cross of Christ? It means to experience, in the Holy Spirit, the love hidden within the Cross of Christ. It means to recognize, in the light of this love, our own cross. It means to take up that cross once more and, strengthened by this love, to continue our journey... To journey through life, in imitation of the one who “endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2).
—Pope John Paul II, Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum, Good Friday 2000
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